Crime

Man wanted in B.C. hotel stabbing arrested in Ontario

Police say a man wanted in connection with a stabbing at a Sheraton hotel in Surrey last June was arrested in Ontario.

Malcolm Drydgen, 29, faces a charge of aggravated assault in connection to the incident.

An arrest warrant was issued for his arrest last September, when police believed he was in the Lower Mainland or somewhere in Alberta.

“We would like to thank the Toronto Police Service for their assistance in locating and arresting the suspect in this occurrence,” said Staff Sergeant Kirk Duncan of Surrey RCMP’s General Investigation Unit. “This allowed our unit to advance the investigation which will now allow the judicial proceedings begin.”

According to Surrey RCMP, Drydgen remains in-custody in Mississauga while arrangements are made for his return to Surrey where he will be brought before the court.

The stabbing happened at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, at 15269 104th Ave. in Surrey, on June 14.

John Kearns, the hotel’s general manager, told the Now-Leader at the time that a man was “bleeding extensively” after the incident, which happened around 5:30 a.m.

“We don’t even know if it was a guest, actually, showed up at the front desk of the hotel suffering from, well bleeding, we didn’t know if it was stab wounds or not, from the video footage that I have,” Kearns told the Now-Leader last June. “It’s kind of a mystery; he apparently was on the 19th floor but we don’t know why or how he got there, was there, whether this was a brothel or god knows what, right, we don’t really know. Anyways, he ended up going out of the hotel and collapsing in the driveway and at that point the police were called, just before then, and police showed up.

“There’s no issues involving anything other than this person that we’re aware of at this point in time,” Kearns said. “He was bleeding extensively. I couldn’t see from any footage that he had any stab wounds, but he was bleeding extensively.”

Police say the hotel stabbing was “isolated and targeted.” According to Surrey RCMP, the victim in the case was treated and released from hospital.

About the allusion to a possible brothel, Surrey RCMP Sergeant Chad Greig said last June: “I have no information about that.”

At the time of the stabbing, the hotel had been behind picket lines for four weeks after roughly 120 unionized employees went on strike.